Thoughts about the Starforce Boycot.
While driving to work today I was thinking about Starforce and how it is being applied by Publishers and Developers to software titles many gamers are interested in purchasing, and how gamers attempt to combat it.
But is it Starforce we should blame, or is it the industry as a whole, spesifically targeting the Software Publishers & Developers who decide to utilize it.
There is no doubt to anyone that Starforce is a very strong restriction technology that can be applied to software, but is it the right kind of software to utilize for games, that is the question.
The way I see it, Starforce are the manufacturers of guns, but they only offer it on the market, and it is up to those who purchase it to decide on its implementation.
Do you blame the gun manufacturer or the user for killing?
Killing is more fitting word than I first though, as they are in fact killing our enjoyment of gaming, where instead of being interested in what features the game has, or commenting on the screenshots, videos and stories the games tell, we are more and more interested in only knowing one or two things:
- Will it use Starforce, SecuRom, SafeDisc, LaserLock, TAGES, Fade, ETc etc etc..
- Will it require Media in drive (Dongle use) to be enjoyed
This, I believe, also explains why companies such as Stardock have had a phenomenal success, because the most important question many gamers ask today, is already answered : NO, we do not employ copy restriction (Guns) on our software, because we view you as a valued CUSTOMER instead of a CONSUMER.
If 'we' are to boycot someone, it should not be targeting the company Starforce and their communication problems with the (mostly) western users.
Around the world, people have different methods of communicating as well as a different way of interpreting what is being communicated to them.
This results in miscommunication which could explain why some in the west see them as Arrogant Bastards, whereas they view themselves as Strong. We also have the language barrier to consider.
Regardless:
The issue is the Starforce technology being applied by many larger scale publishers, most notably UBI-SOFT and CODEMASTERS, which are the companies that should be targeted with a Consumer Boycot, not the company STARFORCE who produce the technology. Starforce produce the guns that Codemasters, Ubi-Soft, Jowood and others utilize to destroy our enjoyment of games.